


You're Always Holding On To Stars

by GetMcDunkedOn



Series: Tag's Multiverse [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Affectionate Insults, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Blowjobs, Childhood Trauma, Consensual Sex, Dissociation, Drama & Romance, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Gay, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced eating humans, Insults, Knotting, M/M, Mt. Ebott (Undertale), Multi, Multiverse, No More Resets (Undertale), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poison, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, References to Depression, Safewords, Sarcasm, Scars, Sex Addiction, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, Talk Science to me, Teasing, Trauma, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Verbal Abuse, Violence, fuck buddies, hatefucking, suicidal idealization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:08:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23675878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GetMcDunkedOn/pseuds/GetMcDunkedOn
Summary: After being left to rot underground for too long, after a civil war and starvation and the loss of too many loved ones, Arum hardly cares that he's on the surface now. There's more food, but the rest of it kinda sucks, and he's too bitter and angry to look for something to give his life meaning. He's just traipsing through, unable to die and unwilling to truly live. This crybaby smaller version of him is only pissing him off.Red maybe has a few issues. Maybe. Like alcoholism, and a sex addiction, and a little bit of recreational drug use, and okay, maybe he's also depressed and anxious and traumatized, but he's fine. Really. Everything's fine. He isn't going to give up HoPe. Not again. He's... He's gonna make his dreams come true. He is. Maybe. Possibly. But it would be nice if that horrifying people-eater would stop being such an asshole. Yeah, that'd help.Thus, the hatefucking begins.
Relationships: Alphys & Sans (Undertale), Grillby/Sans (Undertale), Papyrus/Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Series: Tag's Multiverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1147862
Comments: 32
Kudos: 49





	1. I Think They're Better From Afar

**Author's Note:**

> Arum = Horrorfell Sans  
> Red = Underfell Sans  
> Vex = Underfell Papyrus  
> Tox = Horrorfell Papyrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arum deals with a lot of annoyances day by day. This one was particularly annoying.

“Right this way, sir.”

The fox monster was calm and collected, showing no sign of surprise or fear at Arum’s appearance. That was something. He was getting a little tired of seeing people scream on sight of him. It always gave him a headache, and when they ran… well it made him want to _chase_. He could appreciate someone who wasn’t a complete coward. He followed along to a decently-sized room, where six or seven other monsters were sitting around. Arum scowled a little.

“i thought this would be like a one-on-one evaluation thing,” he hissed to his host. The fox monster shook her head, going over to a desk and picking up a clipboard.

“That was the original plan, when this law was put in place, but the number of monsters reaching the surface kept growing, and it became too impractical to do one-on-one sessions. Besides, most have reported taking some comfort in meeting others who are like them. Call it socialization and therapy along with an evaluation.”

Arum groaned, falling into the only empty chair left.

“fuckin’ perfect,” he grumbled, and the fox monster wrote something down on her clipboard.

“Let’s stay civil, please. Now, I’d like everyone to introduce themselves and state their LV for the record. One at a time now, you first, sir.” She pointed to her right, where another skeleton sat, and Arum focused on him in surprise. He’d never seen another skeleton aside from his brother and father before.

The guy was shorter than Arum by several inches. He had a bad crack along his right eye, and a gleaming gold tooth. While his left hand fidgeted with one leg of his shorts, the other remained tucked away in the pocket of his fluffy jacket. He looked over at their host with two white, clear eyelights, looking a little sulky but less so than Arum was feeling.

“red. uh, 8 lv.”

The rest of the monsters present had LVs ranging from 6 to 14, most of them hovering around near where Red was. Arum was last, and when the fox monster looked at him expectantly, he slouched in his chair, leaning back, and crossed his arms.

“arum, and dunno,” he drawled, looking off to the side.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“my stats are all messed up,” he said with a shrug. “can’t read it no more.”

He felt eight people collectively check him at once, and tried not to bristle at the uncanny feeling. One check was enough to make his spine prickle. Eight at once set him on edge. But what he said was true, his HP and LV were both completely glitched out, the numbers flickering and fuzzing and being endlessly replaced by symbols and other numbers. Their gasps and looks of horror didn’t exactly make it any better. He growled, tightening his grip on his arms, and slouched more.

“toldja.”

“Is there… any chance you could give me a rough estimate?” the fox asked, clearing her throat. To her credit, she had recomposed herself quickly. Still, he scoffed.

“no?? i mean, it was 5 before the incident happened that glitched out my stats, but i’ve killed dozens of humans since then. who knows?”  
“Are you telling me you’ve been killing humans on the surface?”  
He shifted around, glaring off to the side again, steadily growing more irritated - and embarrassed.

“most of ‘em were underground. y’know, to eat? we didn’t have any _food._ i did what i had to to survive.”

There was a retching sound from the other skeleton in the room, who covered his mouth and turned away. Arum sneered at him. What a weakling. Pathetic. He looked back at the fox monster.

“but to answer your question, i did get a few up here. didn’t really mean to. s’the instincts, you know? i can smell their blood and flesh, and it makes me think of hunting, so i just-”

“Alright, that’s enough,” she said firmly, her tail bristling. She quickly wrote several things down. “You’re receiving an LV patch immediately. And I’m enrolling you in therapy. You’re confined to your home and monster-only places until further notice.”

“tch… whatever. brand me like a dog ‘cause i didn’t wanna starve out. s’fine.”

“This is for your own safety as well. The LV patch will protect you from jailtime in most circumstances. And you’ve clearly been through a lot. You need to start a healing process.”

“like i said, whatever. can i go now?”

“We’ve hardly started.”

“yeah, but you already decided i need the stupid patch, so what’s the point of staying?”

“Socializing and therapy, like I said.”

He groaned, tilting his chair back and letting his head loll back until all he could see was the ceiling. But he didn’t protest again.

The fox monster asked several more questions to the group. She asked about their families, their views on humans, their views on their LV, and their goals for the future. Arum boredly talked about his brother Tox, how he wasn’t very book smart but liked puzzles and poisons. For some reason, they didn’t let him elaborate on the poison thing. His opinion on humans boiled down to two words: ‘annoying’ and ‘tasty.’ That didn’t go over well either, though he couldn’t imagine why. He didn’t really have an opinion about his LV, and he didn’t really have any goals except to be able to eat when he damn well pleased. Their host didn’t exactly press for more answers.

Red continued to prove himself annoying. He spoke nervously about his brother Vex, mentioning they didn’t get along for the longest time, but now they were slowly working things out. He _liked_ the humans, adored his stupid little savior, the one who’s name made Arum see blood dripping down his vision and growl loud enough to scare most everyone in the room again. He wished he had never gained a single LV, even _teared up_ explaining how he’d had no choice, how he was only trying to protect his little brother, how he hated every EXP increase. He actually cried about it! Pathetic. The little twerp got emotional all over again at the goals question, declaring he was going to get a master’s in astrophysics and work for NASA. He spoke about the stars with utter awe. It pissed Arum off.

He knew a part of it was being petty and jealous. How _dare_ this guy be so much better off? How _dare_ his escape from the underground go so smoothly? How _dare_ he be so fucking idealistic, so fucking well off as to have a lofty goal like NASA? What made him so special? What made him so much better than Arum, who had been clawing desperately at the door to happiness for… for… how old was he again? For a long time! How dare this crybaby asshole not be as miserable as him? He glared at Red for most of the meeting, taking satisfaction in how the shorter skeleton squirmed and sweat because of his gaze. Yeah that’s right, bitch. Be uncomfortable.

Two other monsters in the group wound up needing LV patches as well, and they and Arum stayed behind while the others filed out. Red peeked back at him for a moment, before scurrying out of the door, pulling out his phone. Arum gave him one last glare before facing his fate as a leper. The bright yellow and red LV patch was unmistakable in its design, as was its purpose. He allowed the fox monster to quickly sew it onto his jacket, boredly assuring he didn’t go anywhere without it. That torture over with, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged out of the stupid monster embassy. Tox was waiting in his precious but run-down old car, some unimpressive build Arum didn’t care to know the name of. It was ugly and rusted, but it was Tox’s, and Tox was proud of it. Arum got in, slamming the door behind him.

“I DON’T THINK IT LOOKS ALL THAT BAD, BROTHER!”

“shut up, it’s horrible,” he grumbled, strapping in.

“YOU KNOW, THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH A LITTLE OPTIMISM.”

“optimism killed my loved ones.”

“I, UM, THINK OTHER THINGS KILLED YOUR… NEVERMIND. BACK TO OUR NEW HOME!”

Arum sulked the whole drive home.

He was so going to get drunk tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, so Arum has been insistently bothering me to pay attention to him, and I decided it was time to start in on his ship story for Tag's Multiverse. I'm going to be including the scenes with him and Red from the kinktobers, with a bit of revision for the scenario I've finally gotten straight in my head. But don't worry, there are only like five or six scenes that are repeats, this will mostly be new stuff!
> 
> Hopefully muse for this one sticks around lmao (I'm such trash and maybe one day I'll continue the other two)


	2. It's a Hell of a Feeling Though

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red goes out to drink, as usual. Flirts, as usual. Wakes up in someone else's bed, as usual. Regrets it, as usual.

Red popped into his tiny apartment, looking around. It was cramped, but clean, Vex always saw to that. He was, predictably, in the kitchen, brewing another cup of coffee and checking his phone. Red wandered over, nearly tripping over the awkward stack of DVDs that really had nowhere else to go. After straightening it so it didn’t topple over, he pulled open the fridge and found a bottle of mustard. As he bit off the top of the cap with just his teeth, he eyed his brother. Vex was focused intently on his phone, not even glancing up due to Red’s entrance or the near-disaster of the DVD stack. It was the kind of intensity that always had Red wary, quiet, knowing that making a wrong move might have unfortunate consequences. But he was trying to get out of that line of thinking. They had made their amends underground, said their apologies, even hugged it out. But it was hard to stop years of wariness on a dime. He lingered for a little while, sipping the mustard, as Vex absently finished making his coffee and started sipping at it. Finally, Red took the plunge.

“waitin’ for your first students to apply?”

Vex glanced up, coffee held almost to his mouth, then looked back down at his phone.

“YES. I PUT THE AD UP HOURS AGO, I WAS EXPECTING AT LEAST A FEW TAKERS BY NOW.”

“ehh, people are still settling in. give it a little time.”

“I SUPPOSE,” he huffed, switching back to his messages again nonetheless. “HOW DID IT GO?”

“no lv patch for me, heh. but that was a given. your appointment’s tomorrow, right?”

"YES.”

“cool. good luck. i’mma nap.”

“YOU HAVE TO FINISH UNPACKING STUFF IN YOUR ROOM.”

“yeahhh… i’ll get around to it. eventually.”

“UGH.”

He went back to sipping his coffee and staring at his phone. Red clenched the mustard bottle between his teeth and fingergunned his brother as he backed off towards his room. Socialization complete, cool.

He grimaced as he looked around his tiny bedroom. Maybe he’d be a _little_ more enthused about unpacking if he actually had the space to put his stuff out. only half of his posters could fit on the walls, and where was he supposed to put his lab equipment? Ugh. It was just… too much. He inched his way around boxes to fall into bed with a sigh. He didn’t like this bed as much, it wasn’t as familiar. But he’d get used to it, he supposed. He’d get used to all of it.

He napped for a few hours, had dinner, and then went out. Pyre’s was his go-to place when he was feeling… pretty much anything. Or nothing at all, really. That had been true underground, and it was still true now. He slid into his usual seat at the bar and tapped on it, grinning at his old friend. The purple elemental slid him a double bourbon old fashioned, and he gulped it happily.

* * *

He had lost count of how many drinks he’d had, but that was normal. It wasn’t all that many yet, he was pretty sure. He didn’t feel blackout drunk, just pleasantly drunk. But when he saw a familiar horrifying-looking skeleton settle into a seat just one away from him, he felt like he wasn’t quite drunk enough.

“oh, fuck, it’s you,” he muttered to himself. He didn’t really mean to say it aloud, and he cringed when he did, hoping the guy hadn’t heard. But Red should only be so lucky. The guy - Arum, he thought - swiveled his head instantly, good socket narrowing. He looked Red up and down, leaning on the bar.

“oh, fuck, it’s an asshole,” he snapped back, and Red flushed.

“whatever, at least i don’t eat people,” he huffed, knocking back another drink.

“yeah? good for you. bet ya never starved a day in your life, huh? bet ya never felt so hungry you couldn’t even stand up, or see straight, or even talk. huh? ya ever been in that situation?”

“no,” Red muttered, squirming a little in his seat. Sounded awful.

“yeah, that’s what i thought. so don’t judge me for surviving, you whiny crybaby jerk.”

“ _crybaby_?” he protested, bristling and sitting up taller. “who the fuck’s a crybaby?”

“you! tearing up over lv, oh, life’s so hard with 8, i regret every bit of exp, i’m so precious and need to be sheltered!”

“hey, fuck you! you know what? fuck you!”

“What’s going on over here?” Pyre interrupted, looking between the two skeletons in confusion. Arum’s expression shifted strangely, and he looked up at the fire elemental in something like confusion. Red knocked back the last of his drink, then slammed the glass down and gestured for it to be filled again.

“nothin’, buddy, just a little moral disagreement.”

“Moral disagreement,” he repeated blankly.

“yeah. i got morals, and he don’t got any.”

“i’ll moral my foot up your coccyx, you-” Arum started, only for Pyre to flare up brightly.

“Okay, enough!” 

Both skeletons flinched, Arum making a weird sort of wheezy sound. The fire elemental looked between them, arms crossed, and scowled.

“There’s no fighting in my bar. Red, you should know this. If you can’t get along, then either don’t talk to each other, or take it outside!”

Red shrank down a little, feeling embarrassed and chagrined. “yeah, ok, buddy, ‘m sorry.”

“sorry,” Arum echoed, that weird expression still on his face. Pyre huffed, his flames dying back down, and refilled Red’s glass. Then he left them be.

Red ignored Arum for a little while, nursing his next drink. He had a fling to score, anyway. He started chatting up anyone who was nearby, putting on the moves. Unfortunately, there were mostly only regulars tonight, and they all either had had their fill of Red from previous flings, were way too drunk to know what was going on, or were taken. Red got steadily drunker, continuing to try nonetheless, and by the time he was seeing double, he was out of people. Well, except for… He peeked at Arum, who was still nursing one of his first few drinks, looking tipsy but zoned. A part of Red’s mind recoiled from the idea, but that part was small and sober, and the rest of him was dumb and big and drunk. Before he really knew what was happening, he’d slid himself onto Arum’s lap.

Arum wheezed again, blinking rapidly down at the smaller skeleton quite suddenly in his personal space.

“uh, can i _help_ you?”

“so do you have as big of a dick as you are one?”

“...beg pardon?”

“your dick, buddy, how big is it? ‘cause i’m really looking to get reamed.”

Red, personally, thought it was a pretty good pickup line, suitable for an asshole, but Arum only seemed flabbergasted.

“...you wanna fuck me?”

“hell yeah, i do. i wanna fuck anybody. i’m dying for some action here, it’s been days!”

“we don’t like each other.”

“who cares, it’s _sex,_ you don’t have to _like_ each other, pfft.”

Arum looked at him strangely. Then he looked around. Then he shrugged and stood up. Before Red could lose his balance and go crashing to the floor, strong arms settled under and around him, carrying him close to Arum’s chest. Oooh, he was being carried. How chivalrous. He nuzzled Arum’s jacket, then recoiled a little. Smelled like old blood. Gross.

He blacked out a little on the walk, his memories of getting there and getting inside an apartment very fuzzy. By the time he hit the bed, he could tell he was way too drunk for this. But since when did that stop him? He flung himself at Arum, making the taller skeleton grunt in surprise, and kissed him deeply. He got a taste of licorice, sharp and vivid, before there was gentle biting on his tongue, making it retreat. Unperturbed, he started to take off his clothes. That was about when he lost all semblance of what he was doing and what was going on.

* * *

Red awoke alone, which wasn’t unusual. The hangover made him want to scream, which was also normal. What wasn’t normal was the feel of his bed. It seemed bigger, the pillow seemed different, and everything smelled like licorice… It took him too long to remember he’d gone home with someone. Even longer to remember who exactly it had been. He groaned, mortified, and curled up on what was definitely Arum’s bed.

“oh, fuck, what’s wrong with me…” he whined, clutching his head. “i can’t believe i did that, oh stars…”

“yeah, that’s about what i expected.”

The low rumble of Arum’s voice didn’t set off his hangover terribly, but it still made him cringe a little. He looked over, finding Arum holding out a mug and two little green pills. He swiped them and downed them with whatever was in the mug - oh, sea tea, perfect - then flopped his head back down.

“thanks,” he mumbled into the pillow. “was it at least a good fuck?”

“dude…” Arum sounded amused. “we didn’t fuck.”

Wait, what?

Red popped his head back up.

“wait, what?”

“yeah, you’re mostly clothed and everything. didn’t you notice?”

He pulled the blanket off and looked down. Other than his jacket and socks, he was indeed still wearing his clothing. He looked around, and found the errant clothes settled neatly on a dresser, then squinted up at Arum.

“but i thought we… i was in your arms and you… and then we kissed and…”

“and then i told you to stop trying to take your damn clothes off before you hurt yourself, and just go the fuck to sleep. you were completely hammered. you whined a bit and tried to keep seducing me and then passed out.”

“uh, really? you didn’t… but if you weren’t gonna fuck me, why did you take me to your place?”

“well i was pretty sure you were too drunk to give me directions to _your_ place, and you probably wouldn’t have made it home on your own anyway. it was either that or leave some other person there to make sure you get home. and who knows who’s a creep there?”

Red stared at him, completely shocked. He tried to parse through all of that, tried to put the image that painted Arum in compared to the image he’d previously had. He slowly sat cross-legged, then put his hands together and tapped his teeth with the pointer fingers. His migraine was lessening from the sea tea and medicine, so he was able to follow the train of thought.

“let me get this straight… you, a dude who’s eaten many people, seems to be a bitter jerk, and who clearly doesn’t like me… saw that there was a possibility i wind up dust in a gutter-”

“-or raped somewhere-”

“and decided to carry me to your place and deal with my drunken flirtations, and then… just tuck me in bed?”

“yeah?”

“that’s so nice??”

“so?” Arum was starting to sound defensive. “maybe i’m not actually an asshole, have you thought about that?”

Red kept staring at him, squinting a little.

“...yeah, i guess. not a _complete_ asshole, anyway.”

“you’re fucking welcome.” He grabbed Red’s jacket and socks and tossed them at him, looking grumpy. “whatever, my job’s done, get dressed and be on your way.”

Red pulled on his socks and jacket, then got up to find his shoes.

“just one question,” he said before he could stop himself. “did you not fuck me because i was too drunk, or because there’s no way you’d ever fuck me?”

It was Arum’s turn to squint. He kicked the shoes over.

“does it matter?”

“yeah, kinda.”

“why??”

“‘cause i want to know!”

“...you still wanna fuck me,” Arum accused. Red busied himself putting on his shoes, not looking up.

“yeah, maybe. i’ve never fucked another skeleton. it sounds fun. i mean, if i’m the baseline-”

“what the fuck.”

“besides, if you’re actually not that bad a guy, maybe my opinion of you’s changed.”

“wow. you’re just fucking horny on main. what the fuck’s wrong with you.”

“or maybe you’re still an asshole. but you’re kind of a handsome asshole.”

Arum’s face reddened.

“you’re just being a narcissist. you know we’re the same person, right?”

“figured it out pretty easily, but we’re _nothing_ alike.”

“yeah, you’re right, i have way more standards.”

“oh yeah? well i bet i’m way smarter than you!”

“ _hah_!” Arum laughed aloud at that. “that’s where you’re wrong, i’m a verified scientific _genius._ ”

“you?? no way. you’re just a brute.”

“you’re judgy. and wrong.”

“you’re a jerk!”

“ _you’re_ a jerk!”

“get better insults!”

“you first!”

Quite suddenly, Red had pinned him on the bed, kissing the daylights out of him.

Okay, so they were doing this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna go ahead and put the sex scene in this chapter, but it turns out Arum was too chivalrous for the night of, and so it had to pushed later, and the chapter's already like twice as long as the last one, so... next chapter!


	3. I'm So Horny, That's Okay My Will Is Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hatefucking happens and it's glorious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of insults thrown around but all the sex is consensual. Also there's a little bit of dissociation at the end, but it's pretty brief. Also I don't think it's an issue but poison does come up?

Frankly, Arum was a little too pleased with this outcome. He’d never hatefucked anyone before. He’d never really fucked anyone he wasn’t actually _with,_ come to think of it. He was usually in it for the long haul. But, he thought, why not? Why not get some pleasure out of someone he didn’t have to care about? Didn’t have to grieve when they were gone? That sounded perfectly alright to him.

So he let Red tackle him onto the bed, a growl dying in his throat. A tongue forced its way impressively into his mouth, and it tasted of crisp apples, which was really nice. He kissed back with vigor, grabbing Red by the shoulders and flipping them over. Like hell he was going to bottom to this little bitch, and he made that known when he growled again as Red squirmed. The shorter skeleton had some strength to him, but when Arum doubled down and pinned him more effectively, Red seemed to give up on flipping them back over. Good. He started pulling at Red’s clothes, unwilling to break the kiss until he had to. Red helped, squirming out of his jacket and kicking off his shoes. They were flung haphazardly somewhere, and Arum finally pulled away to pull off Red’s shirt to meet the floor. Red’s left mitten was discard, and his pants were yanked down. He declined to pull the right mitten off, and nope, Arum wasn’t gonna touch that, not gonna care, not gonna wonder. He just slid down to bite at Red’s lowest rib. Red choked on a moan, his hand landing on Arum’s skull.

“fuck,” he gasped, squirming. “those are some good teeth.”

Arum snickered, licking the bite marks he left behind. That sent Red keening softly, arching up. Apparently those were pretty sensitive. Good. Arum was going to hammer on every good spot he found. He went back to biting, one hand trailing down to scratch lightly at Red’s pelvis. He could feel magic starting to drop down underneath his fingers, pooling there. But before he could continue his teasing, Red yanked at his coat.

“why’re you still fully clothed, s’not fair, c’mon-”

“bitch and moan, buddy.” He pulled away from Red’s ribs to say it, and Red took advantage and flipped them suddenly. Arum hit the bed in dazed confusion, and before he knew it, his jacket was yanked off.

“whoa, hey- you don’t get to top, you-” he protested, only break off in a yelp as Red’s hand raked down his lumbar, pushing up his shirt. He growled, squirming. “whiny bitches belong on the bottom-”

“suck it up, asshole.”

Red yanked the shirt off to join the mess of other discarded clothes, and started pumping at Arum’s spine while he bit and nuzzled Arum’s neck. The attention distracted him a fair amount - he hadn’t gotten any in quite a long time. He decided to be helpful for the moment, kicking off his shorts. They were finally both only clad in socks, and he didn’t really have a protest to that anyway. He fumbled to find Red’s pelvis again, stroking, coaxing the magic to solidify. Red’s moan precursored a girthy, bright red member forming. He was pretty average in length, which was fine, at least Arum wouldn’t choke on it. He let his own member form, and couldn’t help but smirk at the half-disgusted and half-amazed noise Red made.

“what the fuck, dude, there’s no way you’re that big, you’re cheating.”

“that thing’s gonna knot your ass.”

“is fucking not-”

“safeword?”

Red considered for a moment, staring at Arum’s junk.

“modified color system. green is relish, yellow is mustard, red is ketchup.”

“are you _serious,_ your safewords are _condiments_ -”

“shut up, my name is red so i can’t use the regular system!”

“but condiments?”

“don’t judge me!” Red was flushed and indignant, which was honestly cute, and Arum flipped them over again while his bedmate was distracted. Red made a startled noise.

“wha- hey-”

“karma. hold still.”

“make me!”

“okay.”

He pinned Red’s hand again and chomped down on Red’s shoulder. The shorter skeleton shrieked, jerking, but the way his dick throbbed said that was a good shriek. Arum felt smug, licking at the bite and admiring the marks. Red’s eyelights were a little fuzzed. The judgemental prick really liked that. Arum wasn’t about to kinkshame. He moved down, letting go, but replaced his grip at Red’s hips. He was salivating as he eyed Red’s dick, pushing down at the squirming from the other monster.

“i swear if you bite my dick, i’m gonna kick you.”

“rude.”

He licked it, long and slow, and Red shivered. It twitched again, and Arum hummed in satisfaction. He took it in slowly, careful of his teeth. Red was loud, he was learning, moaning again and trying to arch up. Arum kept a firm hold on his hips, not letting him move. He felt a hand on his head again, carefully avoiding the hole. Considerate. He focused on the crisp apple taste, sighing lowly through his nasal cavity, and finished taking it in. He was more used to girls, but this wasn’t the first blow he’d given, and they could be fun in a way. Besides, he wanted to see Red fall apart. That’ll teach the bitchbaby.

Arum started licking and sucking, bobbing his head. He let out little moans, letting the vibrations travel, and it seemed to really get to Red. The smaller skeleton was squirming and moaning, his hand scraping at Arum’s skull and his jaw slack. Arum watched a little trickle of drool come out of one corner, and felt his own member pulse. That was the stuff. He shifted a hand to press two fingers into Red’s back entrance, slowly starting to stretch him out. He wished he had lube, but luckily, ecto had some give and was pretty durable, regardless of where on the body it was. It wasn’t as necessary as with some other species. Red was steadily getting closer, his moans slightly rising in pitch. By the time Arum could spread four fingers in him, he pulled back, and almost laughed at the _whine_ of frustration he got in return.

“why did you _stop_ , you _asshole_!”

“cause you don’t get to cum without me.” He shifted and lifted one of Red’s legs, giving him a better angle to line up. Red licked his teeth and looked nervously at Arum’s length. There was a hunger in his gaze, but also some trepidation. It gave Arum pause.

“color?” he asked, and Red flickered his gaze back up to Arum’s in apparent surprise. After a moment, his shoulders were relaxing.

“relish.”

“snrk…” Arum bit down the laugh, and before Red could say anything indignant, the bigger monster started pressing in.

Red bit off a sound, digging his claws into the bedding a little. He tensed up, then forced himself to relax, allowing Arum to keep pressing in. To his credit, Arum went slow, watching Red’s face. The tension came in little waves, discomfort shifting to pleasure and then back again. Taking it like a champ, a pleasant surprise given how whiny he was about other things. Arum decided to be a nice guy and kiss him to distract him. It seemed to work pretty well, because Red enthusiastically kissed back, sliding his hand up the back of Arum’s spine. Claws gently dug in between the vertebrae, making Arum shiver and make a rough sound into it. He finally bottomed out, coming to a halt. Again Red tensed, only to relax. A few more moments of kissing, and then Red tugged on his shoulder.

“c’mon, move, m’fine.”

“you’re so bossy. maybe i don’t wanna move.”

“don’t be a brat, you’re so annoying, just fucking mo- _ooh_!”

Arum pulled back and rammed back in, and snickered at the squeaking moan Red made in return. His face turned his namesake, and he shoved Arum’s shoulder.

“dick!”

“that’s what’s in ya, yeah, this your first time?”

“fuck you, stop being a jerk for two minutes, mr. genius.”

“i _am_ a fucking genius!”

“still don’t fucking believe you.”

“heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that it’s completely impossible to both know a particle’s position and it’s momentum, and the equation is formally states as delta x-”

“shut the fuck up!” Twitch.

Arum shut the fuck up, blinking down at him. He squinted.

“...did that turn you on? oh my god, did random science crap make you clench around me? do you get off to science?”

“i said shut up!”

“you get off to science. this is as bad as finding out you’re a narcissist.”

“i’m not a narcissist!”

“you’re letting an alternate version of you fuck you.”

“that’s not narcissism that’s-”

Arum thrust again suddenly, cutting off Red’s sputtering and making him moan again. He grinned, continuing to spout physics equations as he started to thrust at a more even pace. Red whined, his face bright and heated. He tried to hide it with his one unmittened hand, but Arum pinned it down again. Unfortunately, as he got into a good rhythm, he was starting to moan and pant too much to keep talking science, but he figured he’d made his point. So he just fucked Red into the mattress, kissing and biting at his neck. He lost himself in it, grunting and growling.

To Red’s credit, the guy had a lot of stamina. It might’ve just been out of indignancy, trying not to cum first, he wouldn’t put it past the guy. But two could play at that game. He reached down to rub Red off in time with his thrusts, pre slicking his hand. Red continued to be loud, squirming and panting and moaning. There was something satisfying about that, and it was even more satisfying when he won the game. Red clenched hard around him, cumming with a cry. Victory was almost as sweet as his own orgasm, following quickly after. Like he’d promised earlier, he knotted, burying his face in Red’s neck and drooling all over it. He slumped then, panting, letting go of Red’s hand. It landed on his skull again, tiredly petting.

“you… are an asshole,” Red said breathlessly, and Arum chuckled. The feel of his knot very slowly loosening and releasing his cum had him lightheaded and content, and he stroked absently at Red’s lumbar.

“and you’re a whiny bitch. nothin’ changed. but you do fuck pretty well.”

“who’s the narcissist now?”

“eh. i’m ok with that title.”

“get off, you’re heavy.”

“i’m still knotted, idiot.”

“then flip us over.”

“fuck, is complaining all you do?”

He braced himself and carefully rolled them over, letting Red rest on his chest instead of the other way around. Honestly, it was a little more comfortable. He let his socket drift shut, content to bask. Red seemed to feel the same way, blessedly shutting up and relaxing on him.

The silence lasted until Arum’s knot had faded away, and he sighed as he pulled out and dismissed the magic. Red looked half-asleep, but like hell was Arum gonna cuddle more than necessary. He pushed his shorter counterpart off and got up to collect their clothes. Red’s phone fell out of the pocket of his jacket, and Arum absently picked it up to replace it, before he noticed the screen.

“dude you’ve got like a hundred messages and missed calls.”

Red groaned, rolling over and taking his stuff. He squinted at the screen, then sighed.

“it’s my brother, he’s concerned i died at the bar.” He said it so casually, like it happened all the time, and honestly Arum wasn’t surprised. The way he’d knocked down those drinks and tried to sweet talk everyone in that bar, Red probably got drunk and went home with strangers pretty often. He shrugged and put his clothes back.

“you can wash up in the bathroom. then see yourself out.”

“gee, thanks.” Red quickly typed out something on his phone and sent it, then pulled his clothes on. He hesitated on his way to the bathroom, and awkwardly turned to face Arum again.

“uh. hey. sorry about not believing you. about the science stuff.”

Arum raised his brow. “a million insults, and that’s the one you’re apologizing for?”

Red flushed. “yeah, well. that’s the one i got proven wrong on. dick.”

“uh-huh. bitch.”

“whatever. anyway if you ever wanna swap ideas, you could call me.”

Arum just sort of stared at him after that, trying to decide if Red’s offer was genuine or out of some sort of guilt. His first instinct was that Red was just trying to make amends for some stupid reason, and didn’t really care. But after a long moment, he shrugged and pulled out his phone.

“yeah, sure, ok, what’s your number?”

Red rattled it off, and Arum saved it and sent a text.

[bitch.]

Red checked his phone and rolled his eyes. Then he trudged off to the bathroom to wash off.

Instinctively, Arum slid his phone into his left pocket instead of the right, and it fell right out of the hole in the bottom. _Wait since when was that_ _there?_ He stuck his hand through and started at the fingers poking out the bottom. He must’ve zoned out, because seemingly the next second, Tox was in front of him, lifting up his chin.

“hole,” he said distractedly, and his brother pulled his hand free of the hole and patted it.

“YES, ARUM, THAT’S BEEN THERE. YOUR VERY LOUD FRIEND LEFT, ARE YOU HUNGRY?”

“friend?”

“YES, THE SHORT ONE THAT LOOKS SORT OF LIKE YOU. DO YOU REMEMBER HIM BEING HERE?”

“oh,” he said, his head clearing up a little. “red. he’s not my friend. he’s an asshole.”

“I SEE.” Tox looked a little baffled, which was reasonable, he knew exactly what Arum was doing in here, and Arum didn’t have a history of banging people he didn’t like. Arum shrugged it off, picking up his phone and putting it in his right pocket instead.

“yeah, bro, i’m hungry. what’s for breakfast?”

“EGGS AND HAM. I WOULD HAVE OFFERED SOME TO YOUR- TO RED, BUT I DOUBT HE HAS BUILT UP ANY ARSENIC TOLERANCE.”

“yeah probably not, good call.”

He followed his brother out into the kitchen to devour some food.

He had no intentions of calling Red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they never met again... 
> 
> Or at least that's what they think.


End file.
